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BATON ROUGE, LA (NBC33) — From the state capital to the nation's capital, that's the trip some local 8th graders are hoping to make.

It's not just where the White House is. It's where history is made. It's our nation's capital, and soon some students at Inspire Charter Academy will get to see it for themselves.

"I was very excited because it's not every day or every year that you can go outside of your state or outside of the south," Toryal Jones said.

"It's a great experience to see the White House and knowing that I've never been outside of Louisiana. This will be my first time," Carlton Spurlock admitted. "I want to take a tour of the White House to see what Mr. Guilbeau has taught us earlier today about the Constitution."

"A lot of my students are actually excited to go and see some of the things we've been talking about in class, like the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the White House, the Capitol Building, and they know about Congress and the inner-workings of the government," said Logan Guilbeau, head social studies teacher at Inspire.

But these 8th graders still have a lot of fundraising to do before they hit the road.

"When the school year started, and we were like 'Wow, this is our first graduating class,' we wanted to put together a full slate of activities for them which included a senior class trip," said Rashawn Davis, special events coordinator at Inspire.

The company that runs the school came up with half the money for the trip, but the school has to come up with the rest.

"So our student council came up with various ideas and fundraising activities, such as today, I don't have my suit and tie on because today is Pajama Day. So, I'm in my Saints pajamas," Davis said.

"We did things such as Spirit Week. We had Crazy Sock Day, Hat Day, Celebrity Day and other things," Spurlock said.

Students like Christajua Brooks said this is more than just a class trip.

"It's going to be exciting because it's going to be our last time with each other," Brooks said.

"This is an excellent way for me to be able to send them off and thank them for their good years of hard work for me. It's also an excellent opportunity to be able to bond one more time before I send my babies off to high school," Guilbeau said.

If you'd like to help the students reach their goal, you can contact Rashawn Davis at (225) 356-3936 or email him at 87.rdavis@nhaschools.com.

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